Retire

Buying into the following beliefs could leave you cash-strapped during your senior years.

Your early retirement contributions usually end up being the most valuable because they have more time to grow.

Whether you're receiving benefits or are working toward your eventual retirement, it's possible that these changes will affect what you'll take home in 2021 or beyond.

There's a good chance that Social Security will end up being an important source of income for you in retirement, so you'll want to get your filing decisions just right. And that means steering clear of the following mistakes you could end up making when you're part of a married couple.

More than 60 million Americans count on Social Security benefits right now to help cover their living expenses, and nearly all of us expect to get some money from the program.

Social Security may provide a substantial chunk of income for you as a senior, but it shouldn't be your only source.

The money in your retirement savings account generally can't sit there forever. Unless you have a Roth IRA, you're obligated to remove a portion of your account balance each year once you turn 72.

What you receive each month from Social Security can significantly impact your financial well-being.

A 401(k) usually lets you choose from a handful of mutual funds your employer selected, and sometimes that's fine. But if there aren't any options that appeal to you, there isn't a lot you can do. Your employer might be willing to add some more investment choices if you request it, but it doesn't have to.

Depending on how your retirement funds were invested, your balance may or may not have been growing in lockstep with the market.

A recent report from Fidelity shows that 23.2% of baby boomers in a defined contribution plan have too much exposure to high-risk investments. And that, in turn, could open the door to serious losses that these savers may never recover from.

By the time you reach age 50, you should be well on your way to achieving your retirement goals.

You don't have to raise your contributions that significantly to see a noticeable difference in your retirement account balance.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year, many analysts worried that decreasing gas prices meant that seniors would get no Social Security raise going into 2021.

Pensions and other retirement-benefit programs have struggled for years to figure out how to close the gap between the assets they have on hand and the cost of benefits they have promised to pay out in future decades.

In a recent survey of U.S. adults aged 40 to 65 with annual household incomes of at least $100,000, a surprising 50% said they're worried they won't ever be able to retire.

While everyone's savings needs will differ, sometimes it helps to see how you compare to others.

Taking care of your health gets more expensive as you age. Even Medicare premiums tend to go up from one year to the next.

It's not easy saving for retirement, and it can be especially challenging if you're nearing retirement age and your savings aren't as strong as you'd like them to be.

During the last recession, the low point for employer-matching contributions was in 2010, months after the economic recovery took hold in mid-2009, according to Vanguard Group Inc.